Submarine Power Cables

Since the destruction of Northstream 1 & 2 the public attention has come to the invisible submarine infrastructure. Further unexplained damages in another subsea pipeline and two submarine fiber cables in the Baltic Sea have fuelled the interest further. Knowledge about submarine cables is limited with journalists and “experts”, maybe even investigators. The critical questions could be:
*  What do we know about the cable design and installation process?
*  What do we know about the marine environment of the cable?
*  What can we see on the ROV footage of the damage?
*  Who would be able to perform an assault? What would be needed to do it?

Sabotage against submarine telecom cables is a common act of warfare since more than hundred years ago and I can provide numerous examples. Fortunately, submarine power cables have not yet been subject for sabotage, for several reasons. But we cannot be sure about the future.